Mobile App Development Tutor Pack
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I ♥ My Smartphone A Computing Science Course in Mobile App Development by Jeremy Scott TUTOR NOTES Version 2, August 2016 I ♥ My Smartphone Acknowledgements Acknowledgements This resource was partially funded by a grant from Education Scotland. We are also grateful for the help and support provided by the following contributors: Bridge of Don Academy Crieff High School George Heriot’s School Johnstone High School Kelso High School CompEdNet, Scottish Forum for Computing Science Teachers Computing At School Council of Professors and Heads of Computing (CPHC) Professor Hal Abelson, MIT Mitchel Resnick, MIT Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA) Edinburgh Napier University School of Computing Glasgow Caledonian University School of Engineering and Built Environment Heriot-Watt University School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Robert Gordon University School of Computing University of Edinburgh School of Informatics University of Aberdeen Department of Computing University of Dundee School of Computing University of Glasgow School of Computing Science University of St Andrews School of Computer Science University of Stirling Department of Computing Science and Mathematics University of Strathclyde Department of Computer and Information Sciences University of the West of Scotland School of Computing ScotlandIS 4J Studios Brightsolid Google JP Morgan Microsoft Research Oracle O2 RunRev Sword Ciboodle Special thanks go to Ian King who assisted with updating these materials for App Inventor 2. The contribution of the following individuals who served on the RSE/BCS Project Advisory Group is also gratefully acknowledged: Professor Sally Brown (chair), Mr David Bethune, Professor Alan Bundy, Professor Quintin Cutts, Ms Kate Farrell, Mr William Hardie, Dr Fiona McNeill, Professor Greg Michaelson, Dr Bill Mitchell and Professor Judy Robertson. Some of the lessons within this resource are based on existing work by Professor David Wolber of the University of San Francisco and the App Inventor EDU site, reproduced and adapted under Creative Commons licence. The author thanks those concerned for permission to use and adapt their materials. BCS is a registered charity: No 292786 The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Scotland's National Academy. Scottish Charity No. SC000470 i I ♥ My Smartphone Acknowledgements For Sarah, who loves her smartphone, and Anna, who loves her smartphone too. ii I ♥ My Smartphone Contents Contents Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Computational thinking ................................................................................. 2 Why mobile app development?..................................................................... 3 Using this resource ......................................................................................... 3 Curriculum for Excellence outcomes ............................................................. 4 App Inventor ................................................................................................... 5 Known issues .................................................................................................. 5 Installation ..................................................................................................... 6 Using App Inventor in the classroom ............................................................. 7 Useful resources ............................................................................................ 7 App Inventor Gallery ...................................................................................... 8 Publishing on Google Play .............................................................................. 8 Lessons and approach ..................................................................................... 9 Screencasts .................................................................................................... 9 Deep understanding ...................................................................................... 9 Pair programming ........................................................................................ 10 Suggested activities ...................................................................................... 10 Inter-disciplinary learning ............................................................................ 10 A Brief History of the Telephone .................................................................... 11 Mr Watson, come here – I want to see you! ............................................... 11 Going mobile ................................................................................................ 11 When mobile phones became smart phones .............................................. 12 Convergence: Bringing it all together .......................................................... 12 Telephone…or computer? ........................................................................... 14 Smartphone software .................................................................................... 15 Operating system ......................................................................................... 15 Apps ............................................................................................................. 16 The mobile app industry .............................................................................. 16 Further inter-disciplinary learning ............................................................... 17 iii I ♥ My Smartphone Contents Lesson 1: Virtual Pet ...................................................................................... 19 Pair programming (optional) ....................................................................... 20 Lesson 2: Finger Painting ............................................................................... 23 Variables ....................................................................................................... 25 Lesson 3: MoleMasher Game ......................................................................... 29 Lesson 4: Times Table Helper ......................................................................... 33 Don’t crash and burn! .................................................................................. 36 Lesson 5: Virtual Map Tour ............................................................................ 39 Lesson 6: Heads I Win .................................................................................... 41 Lesson 7: Wiff-Waff Game ............................................................................. 45 Mobile App Project ....................................................................................... 49 Inter-disciplinary learning in the project ..................................................... 51 Congratulations! .......................................................................................... 51 Appendices ................................................................................................... 53 Appendix A: Learner Tracking Sheet ............................................................ 54 Appendix B: Sample Code ............................................................................ 55 Appendix C: App Inventor Handout ............................................................. 63 iv I ♥ My Smartphone Overview Overview Introduction Implementation of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and the development of new National Qualifications presented a timely opportunity to revise the way Computing Science is taught in schools and to provide a more interesting, up-to-date and engaging experience for both tutors and learners. This is the third in a series of resources developed by the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and the BCS Academy of Computing that exemplify a subset of the Computing Science-related outcomes of CfE at Levels 3 & 4 and beyond. The RSE/BCS Computing Science Exemplification Project is also featured in the article Creating a New Generation of Computational Thinkers (Communications of the ACM, volume 58 issue 12, December 2015). This resource seeks to consolidate Computing concepts introduced in the previous resources through the medium of mobile app development. In addition to providing a course in programming for mobile devices, it will explore new paradigms in Computing such as mobile technologies and new interfaces, whilst providing ample opportunity for inter-disciplinary linkage. All three resources build on state-of-the-art understanding of the pedagogy of Computing Science, drawn from around the world. This should enable learners to develop both app development skills and deep understanding of core Computing concepts and the ability to think like a computer scientist. Whilst this resource is intended to support tutors’ thinking about how they might translate the intentions of the curriculum into classroom activity, it should not be seen as prescriptive. Rather, it is intended to stimulate innovation and offer tutors the flexibility and opportunity to deploy their creativity and skills in meeting the needs of learners. Page 1 I ♥ My Smartphone Overview Computational thinking Computational thinking is recognised as a key skill set for all 21st century learners – whether they intend to continue with Computing Science or not. It involves a set of thinking practices through which to